


Will you be my quarantine?

by AphroditeMadeMeDoIt



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Romance, Sharing a Bed, Wayhaught - Freeform, wynaught_brotp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23246989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AphroditeMadeMeDoIt/pseuds/AphroditeMadeMeDoIt
Summary: A secret crush, a quarantine and guess what? There was only one bed!I wonder what could happen there? ;)
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 117
Kudos: 575





	1. I can't be sick

Nicole stumbled into the house, dropped her jacket on the floor, kicked her shoes off in random directions and crashed face first on the couch. This was not good. She felt sick and lightheaded, somehow drunken-like, and she had not had a drop of alcohol in days. She turned around to lie on her back and make herself a little more comfortable. She placed her hands over her face and wondered what the hell was going on. She then felt her skin was hot and clammy. 

“Ugh!” She grunted involuntarily. She was sick. How in the hell was she sick? She never got sick. She took very good care of herself. She ate a healthy diet, she exercised, she wore warm clothes when it was cold and she never ever got sick! This was not happening. Not on her watch. 

With much effort, she got herself off the couch and into the kitchen so she could do something about this unfortunate situation. She filled up the kettle and put it on so she could make some tea and went through her pantry and fridge to look for what else she needed. Honey, check. Cinnamon, check. Lemon, check. Ginger… where the hell was the ginger? 

“Uuuuugh!” She grunted again, louder this time, as she rested her head against the kitchen wall. She had used all the ginger the previous weekend while making curry and had yet to replace it. Things were really not going her way today and she was only becoming more and more frustrated by the minute.

She took a deep breath to try and control her emotions and went back to the task at hand. Having no ginger was not ideal but she would make due. She was in no condition to hit the shops right now and she was sure that after some warm tea, some Advil and a good night of sleep she would be as good as new. She prepared the ingredients she did have in her favorite tea mug and while she waited for the water to boil, she dragged herself upstairs to her bathroom to get some pills. She opened her medicine cabinet and immediately had to hold herself not to scream. She was also out of Advil. 

She and Wynonna had gone drinking a few days prior and Wynonna had gotten too drunk to be able to make her own way home so she crashed on Nicole's couch instead. The next morning, when Wynonna woke up with a hangover from hell, Nicole had given her the Advil bottle, and instead of getting a couple pills and returning the bottle, as a normal polite human being would have done, Wynonna, of course, had taken the whole bottle with her, so now Nicole had none.

Nicole couldn’t take this day anymore. She walked into her bedroom and dropped face first, again, into her bed. She felt sick and tired and frustrated and she just wanted something, anything to go her way. She could hear the kettle whistling in the kitchen but she had no energy or will power left to actually get up. What was the point anyway? She had no ginger for her tea, no medicine, she might as well just go to sleep and hope she would feel better tomorrow after some rest.

She got up and started taking off her clothes so she could change into her pajamas. As she was half way through taking off her pants, her phone, that was still in her pocket, suddenly started ringing and startled her, causing her to stumble over and fall flat on the floor with her pants halfway down her legs. She stayed like that for a minute, eyes closed, willing herself to wake up because this must be a very twisted dark dream and not an actual evening in her life. When her phone started ringing again, she resigned to this being her actual reality and decided she better answer it, albeit not too pleased when she saw who the caller was.

“What do you want?” Nicole grumbled into the device.

“Oh! Hello to you too, Haught n bothered.” Came Wynonna's sarcastic response from the other side.

“Wynonna, I’m not in the mood. If you are calling, you must want something, so let’s just get this over with so I can go to bed. It’s not like you care about pleasantries anyway.” Nicole replied flatly. Wynonna was her best friend and she was a good friend when she wanted to be, but she was also at least partially responsible for Nicole’s bad mood right now and Nicole had not forgotten that.

“Geez, ok, ok. I was just calling to say I have to work tonight, but it’s looking like a slow night, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over, have some drinks, and, you know, keep me company. But, considering how it sounds like something crawled up your ass and died, I’m assuming that will be a no…” Wynonna teased.

Wynonna worked at Shorty’s, Purgatory’s most popular and surprisingly least shady bar, and Nicole would every so often come by when her friend was working to have some drinks and keep her company while the pair would laugh at the drunken antics of the locals. 

Nicole had not been in Purgatory very long and she was also not the type of person that made friends very easily so her friendship with the town’s reckless crazy chick was very much appreciated, despite the warnings from her boss, Sheriff Nedley. Nicole knew about Wynonna’s past, the truth and the rumors, being a Sheriff’s deputy indeed had its perks, but none of that mattered to her. The fact that Wynonna was such an outcast actually made her feel closer to her friend. She could definitely relate to that, being the only openly gay person in the small town where she grew up. She actually admired how Wynonna still held herself with pride and lived her life to the fullest, despite the opinions of others. Nicole, however, did not agree with some of the coping mechanisms Wynonna would resort to when the pressure got too much, but that was another matter.

“I’m just sick, Wynonna.” Nicole admitted with a sigh. There was no denying it so she might as well say it, even if it pained her to do so. “And a little annoyed at you, since you stole all my Advil and I have no energy to leave the house and get some more.” She was definitely not letting her get away with that.  
“Oh shit! Sorry, Carrot Cake. I did do that, didn't I?” Wynonna cursed. “Crap! I would totally come by and drop some but I’m all alone here tonight so I really can’t step out.” 

“It’s ok. I’ll just go to sleep and get some in the morning. I’m sure I’ll be feeling better by then.” Nicole was happy that Wynonna had admitted to her guilt but she didn’t need her to beat herself over it.

“No, wait a sec.” Wynonna told her and she could hear her talking in the background. “Waves, perfect timing! Could you do me a favor, pretty please?” 

“Maybe… What’s up?” Nicole could also hear Waverly replying now and just the sound of her voice made Nicole’s heart do summersaults. 

“You know my friend, Haught sauce?” Waverly must have shown some type of confirmation to the absurd nickname as Wynonna continued. “She is not feeling too ‘Haught’” Nicole rolled her eyes as Wynona stopped and laughed at her own joke but thankfully Nicole did not hear any acknowledgement from her sister. “Anyway, she might not have any medicine at home right now, because I maybe took it with me last time I was there, so if you could be a doll and get her some and drop it off for me, it would be greaaaat!” Wynonna finished with a pleading voice and Nicole unconsciously held her breath waiting for Waverly’s answer, not really sure herself of what she was hoping to hear.

On one hand, Nicole would normally never say no to seeing Waverly and she really did need medicine if she had any hope of a decent night of sleep. On the other hand, she felt horrible and she had a sinking feeling she might also look horrible and she would prefer Waverly did not see her under these circumstances.

“Ok.” Waverly finally replied emotionless and Nicole really wished she could have seen her face to know if she was happy or annoyed at the prospect of seeing Nicole.

“Great! Did you hear that, Haught stuff? Waves will come by and drop off your medicine and, if you so happen to die in your sleep, that will most definitely not be my fault!” Wynonna was surely not great at pep talks. “And since she is coming over anyway, can she get you anything else?” Nicole could hear that Wynonna had only added that last part after some rushed whispering, mostly likely from Waverly. Wynonna was a good friend, but not that good. Waverly on the other hand, was the nicest, most caring person Nicole had ever met. She often wondered how two sisters could ever turn out so differently.

“Actually, if she is really coming over, could she please also get me some ginger for tea? If she can’t find it at the store it’s ok, only if it’s easy, I would hate to make this any more of a trouble than it already is.” Nicole rambled. Wynonna quickly acknowledged it and hung up, leaving Nicole to her thoughts.

She wouldn’t have asked if Waverly hadn’t offered it herself. At least now it seemed that it was more than just Wynonna pushing her to go. Not that it meant anything. Waverly just had a heart of gold and would have done the same for anyone. This didn’t make Nicole special, despite how badly Nicole would want that to be the case. Because another unfortunate thing that Nicole could no longer deny was that she had a massive crush on her best friend’s little sister.

She knew it was hopeless. Waverly Earp was as straight as an arrow. The former captain of the cheerleading squad / prom-queen / valectiditorian / voted nicest person in Purgatory had just recently broken up with her long term boyfriend, rodeo star douchebag Champ Hardy, and had since then taken to going on dates with every single eligible bachelor in town, only to turn them down and move on to the next. This recent dating behaviour was, in fact, the only thing the small brunette seemed to have in common with her sister. Although Wynonna’s choices were a lot less eligible and what she did could hardly be defined as dates.

Coming down from her thoughts, Nicole finally realised her current position. She was still on the floor with her pants down her legs and Waverly would be arriving soon. This would not do. She quickly got up, as well as she could with her current pants situation, and got to work on changing her clothes and making herself look somewhat presentable for the youngest Earp girl. There wasn’t much she could do about her sickly look but she could at least make sure she was wearing clean clothes, that her hair was brushed and her face was washed.

She still wasn’t feeling any better, in truth she was actually feeling worse, so she very carefully made her way downstairs and unlocked the door, before she set herself lying down on the couch once again. Nicole closed her eyes for what it felt like a second, before she heard the doorbell signalling Waverly had arrived.

“It’s open. Come in!” She yelled from her spot on the couch, while trying to sit back up.

Waverly walked in and just the sight of her took Nicole’s breath away. She had obviously dressed for a night out at Shorty’s, with her tight skinny jeans and crop top looking quite contrasting to Nicole’s current sweatpants and t-shirt look. 

“Hi.”Waverly said shyly. “I brought your medicine and ginger. Can I help you with anything?”

Nicole just stared at her dumbly for a second. She had imagined a few completely different scenarios if Waverly had ever come into her house and in all of those, Waverly would be helping her with many many things. 

“No, it’s ok. I wouldn’t want to take any more of your time than I already have. Thank you very much for bringing these to me.” Nicole finally replied, coming out of her daze. She then went to stand up and take the items from Waverly but as she did, she suddenly felt dizzy and fell back onto the couch.

“Oh my God, are you ok?” Waverly rushed to her side and touched the back of her hand to Nicole’s forehead. “You are burning up! Let me get you some water so you can take the pills.” Waverly walked quickly to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water for Nicole. “Here, take this. I saw you were making some tea. I’ll cut up the ginger and finish that for you, ok? Just take your medicine and rest.”

Nicole took her pills and watched as Waverly walked back to the kitchen, not waiting for any confirmation, and busied herself with making her tea. She didn’t want to impose on her. It wasn’t like they were close or that Waverly really cared about her but she was feeling so sick, she actually didn’t have the energy to argue. She would just have to make it up to the girl when she felt better.

As soon as Waverly was back with her tea and Nicole was about to thank her and insist that she go enjoy the rest of her evening, her phone rang again. Assuming it was Wynonna, Nicole answered without looking at the caller id. 

“I was just about to tell Waverly she can go, so you will have her keeping you company in no time, Wynonna.” 

“This is Sheriff Nedley, Haught. And could you actually ask Waverly to wait a little longer?” Shit, Nicole though, it was her boss.

“Oh, hi, Sheriff, sir. I’m sorry. Yes, is there something wrong?” Nicole replied ashamed of her mistake, while mouthing for Waverly to sit and wait.

“Well, Deputy, how are you feeling?” Nedley asked carefully. Nicole frowned and looked over at Waverly who was also looking at her curiously. She was confused on why Nedley called her, and how did he seem to know she was unwell. Had Waverly said something? Was this why he had asked her to not let her leave? Waverly seemed as puzzled as her though so that was probably not the case.

“Actually, sir, I am not feeling very well. I’m afraid I might be sick.” Nicole replied honestly.

“I was afraid that might be the case.” Nedley sighed and continued before Nicole could interject. “That scumbag you arrested yesterday, Carl, you said he wasn’t looking too good and he looked like he was on something. Well, he wasn’t. He was sick. After your shift yesterday he got worse, so we called an ambulance and they took him to the hospital. I still thought it was a reaction to the drugs he must have taken so I didn’t think anything of it but the hospital just called and said he has a very contagious virus and anyone that has had direct contact with him needs to be quarantined. And in turn, also everyone that has had direct contact with such a person.” 

Once again that evening, Nicole could not breathe, but now for a very different reason. What did this mean? How sick was she? Was she going to die? Who else did she infect? Was the whole Sheriff’s department infected? Who would keep the town safe? She had so many questions and none of the answers and she couldn’t find the voice to actually say them out loud.

“Haught? Nicole? Are you still there?” Nedley questioned softly. 

Nicole’s head was spinning. She was feeling light headed again. She turned when she felt Waverly’s hand lightly squeeze her shoulder and the small brunette gave her a small smile while her eyes silently asked if she was ok. She tried to smile back and it came out more like a grimace, but the touch was grounding enough for her to be able to find her voice and ask some of the questions burning in her mind.

“Who else is sick? Are you… Are you sick? Is Lornie?”

“No, don’t you worry about us. We never actually touched the prisoner. You bought him in and the ambulance took him out, we were never in direct contact with him so we are ok”. At least that was good news. “It looks like the virus is transmitted by skin contact so I need to know, Nicole, did you touch anyone or did anyone touch you, since you’ve been in contact with the prisoner?” Nedley’s question was serious and Nicole started retracing her steps since she had arrested the perp.

After bringing him in, she had gone back to her desk and filled in all the paperwork until the end of her shift. She then went home, made dinner, watched TV with CJ and went to bed. No contact with anyone. That morning she woke up and went about her daily routine as usual; breakfast, twelve hour shift at work and home. She had seen people and talked to them but not really touched anybody. Even when she got her lunch and her dinner takeout at the station, she had only touched the containers of food, not the person giving them to her. She was starting to open her mouth to confirm it to Nedley when it suddenly hit her, like a ton of bricks; Waverly. Waverly had touched her forehead to check for a fever. Skin to skin contact. She had infected Waverly.

“Waverly.” Nicole replied simply, immediately eliciting an enquiring look from the girl next to her.

“Well, Haught. I was afraid that would be the case when you mentioned Waverly was with you and that is why I asked you to not let her leave. We need to try and contain this virus as much as we can and as such, neither of you will be allowed to leave your home until you are not contagious anymore. So I’m afraid the two of you will need to be quarantined in your house together.”

Well, shit!


	2. Say what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Waverly react to finding out their predicament? And how will Wynonna?

“I want you to know that the doctors at the Big City hospital are doing their utmost best to figure this virus out and so far it does not seem to be deadly, so you just need to sit tight and wait for this to pass.” Nedley was doing his best to sound confident and calm Nicole down but it was definitely not working.

“Seems to be? So they don’t even know and I’m supposed to just sit here… We! We are just supposed to sit here and hope for the best? Carl looked like he was out of his mind when I arrested him. If that is all the virus then… I don’t think we should just stay at home. We need a hospital. We need doctors!” Nicole was furious. How did they expect her to take this lightly when she saw how badly it affected Carl. And this wasn’t just about her anymore. She had infected Waverly. Poor sweet Waverly that didn’t even know yet that she was stuck in quarantine with a woman she barely knew and maybe didn’t even like.

As if hearing her thoughts, Waverly started to speak, probably deciding she had waited long enough to be clued in on what exactly was going on.

“Nicole? What are you talking about? Who is we? Is that you and me? And if so, why…? Just, what’s going on?” Waverly also seemed too confused to voice her concerns properly and Nicole decided it was only fair that she get the girl up to speed with the recent developments.

“One second.” Nicole sighed and placed her phone on speaker between the two of them. “It would seem that I was infected yesterday with a highly contagious but not deadly virus. And now that you have touched me, you are also infected. There is a team of doctors researching the virus in the Big City as we speak and meanwhile, to contain the spread, they want us to stay quarantined here, together. I’m sorry!” Throughout her explanation, Nicole kept her attention solely on Waverly, trying to gather how the girl was taking such horrible unexpected news. And while Waverly sure seemed taken by surprise, she did not seem angry or overly upset.

“Yes, Waverly.” Continued Nedley from the phone. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience this must cause you but it is really for the best of the town that you two stay put right now. As I was about to explain to Nicole, Carl did also have drugs in his system when he was admitted into the hospital and that was partially what caused such a big reaction to the virus. Also, being a drug user with extremely unhealthy habits only made matters worse. You two are healthy young women and should be able to cope with this as nothing more than a strong flu. We will keep tabs with you by phone every day and, if need be, we will take you immediately to the hospital. You have my word.”

Nicole was still focused on Waverly. Her worry about her own well being dissipated as she worried about the younger Earp. Nicole did not have any hopes of any romantic relationship between the two of them but the small brunette was still her best friend’s sister and she did hope, one day, they could grow to be friends as well. Not to mention that Wynonna was really protective of her baby sister, and she did not wish to be on the other end of Wynonna’s wrath if something bad was to ever happen to Waverly.  
“Ok, do they have any idea how long we will need to stay in quarantine?” Waverly replied, still sounding more curious than worried. 

“The doctors can’t be sure yet but they are saying at least 2 weeks. They will monitor Carl’s condition and get more information from that. We are also trying to round up everyone Carl has been in contact with and hopefully we can find out how he got infected himself and get some answers from that.” Nedley sounded tired. “We only just found out about this so I’m sorry we don’t have all the answers yet. Our focus now is to try to contain this so no more people are infected and, of course, make sure that everyone that is infected recovers fully.” 

“I’m sorry I can’t be there to help, sir.” Nicole couldn’t help to feel guilty that she had gotten herself sick. The Sheriff’s department needed all hands on deck to deal with this mess and she felt useless having to say locked up at home. “And I’m so so sorry I got you infected, Waverly.” No matter how guilty she felt about not being able to help, she still felt guiltier of having brought Waverly into this.

“Hey, it’s ok. It’s not your fault.” Waverly said, reaching out again to hold Nicole’s hand and giving her a reassuring smile. “You didn’t know it was contagious. Besides, you didn’t ask me to come, Wynonna did. So if I were to blame someone, I would blame her.” Waverly wiggled her eyebrows mischievously at that. “Which I probably will, just to get some sister bonus points.” 

Nicole was amazed how she could still be so adorable when they had received such horrible news.

“Sheriff, will someone be able to bring some stuff over for me? I don’t have any spare clothes or even a toothbrush with me and if I’ll need to stay here for at least a couple weeks, I’ll need some of my things.” Waverly continued, now addressing Nedley and completely ignoring the dumb look on Nicole’s face.

Nicole honestly did not understand how Waverly was being so cool about all of this. She had just found out she was infected with a virus that they knew very little about and, on top of that, she would have to stay looked up with someone that was practically a stranger, for a good amount of time and the young girl was taking this a mild inconvenience at most.

“Of course, Waverly. If you could please ask your sister to pack the things you need, we’ll send someone to drop them off for you tomorrow morning. I’m assuming you can make due without it for a night?” At Waverly’s confirmation, Nedley continued. “That settles it then. We can’t spare any hands for this right now and, pardon my honesty, I do not trust Wynonna to maintain protocol and not get herself infected as well.” Nicole and Waverly shared a knowing look at this as they both knew that to be true. Wynonna would not take this lightly. 

They all said their goodbyes and agreed to talk again early in the morning. Nicole was now suddenly aware of how close Waverly was sitting from her. Waverly, the most beautiful girl she had ever seen and now was going to be spending at least 2 weeks locked in her house with her. And she wasn’t sure if it was her fever getting worse or the close proximity from the girl, but she felt like her skin was going to burst into flames any second now.

“So, shall we get this over with and do it now?” Waverly sighed.

“Do it?” Nicole stuttered. Had she heard it right? Were auditory hallucinations a symptom of this virus?

“Yes, call Wynonna. We do need to let her know.” Waverly answered matter-of-factly. 

“Oh, yes, we can call her.” Nicole replied quickly while admonishing herself for letting her mind go places it had no business going. Get together, Haught! She thought as she dialed up her friend and again placed her phone on speaker.

“Sup, Haught’apeño? Calling to thank me for sending my sister to play sexy nurse with you?” Wynonna answered jokingly. 

Nicole was caught by surprise. She was used to Wynonna’s jokes, that was how she communicated but she never made these jokes about her sister before. Had she caught on Nicole’s crush? And did this mean she was ok with it?

“Shut up, Wynonna.” Waverly replied briskly, and for the first time that evening, she young Earp actually seemed annoyed. And was she blushing? No, hallucinations were definitely a side effect of the virus. Nicole was sure of it now. “There’s something important we need to talk to you about.”

“Ugh, ok, just spare me the gross details, please. I didn’t drink enough for this.” Wynonna did seem like she had drunk plenty and what the hell was she talking about?

“Shush! This is serious!” Waverly was not having any of that and that hallucinational blush kept growing strong. “Nicole has a contagious virus and now I have it too so we need to stay in isolation for at least the next two weeks. I’ll text you the stuff I’ll need while I’m staying here so you can pack it for me. Someone from the Sheriff’s department will come pick it up in the morning to bring it to me and you are under no circumstances to come over. We need to keep this contained and if you were to stay in quarantine with us I might actually kill you, and I am too smart to go to jail!”

Nicole was impressed how Waverly could say so much without even taking a breath and she couldn’t help finding feisty Waverly very sexy. Also, Waverly loved her sister, so why would she prefer to spend this time alone with Nicole? 

Nicole’s head was starting to hurt. This day had been too much already and she couldn’t make sense of what was going on anymore.

“WHAT?” Wynonna yelled into the phone. “Like fuck I’m gonna stay away if this is true. So please tell me you are joking.”

Both Waverly and Nicole sighed in sync. That was exactly what they were afraid of, Wynonna going all Wynonna and doing something stupid.

“Waverly is not joking, Wynonna. And you do need to stay away, for your own protection and also because that is the best way for you to help us.” Nicole said, stepping in to try and talk some reason into her friend. She had an idea, and if Wynonna agreed with her, she’d be killing two birds with one stone. “The Sheriff’s department is short-handed right now, with me being in quarantine, and they will need all the help they can get to try and locate the source of this virus and maybe find a way to a vaccine or a cure so we can get out of here faster. With you working in Shorty’s and also through your previous, uh, activities, you know a lot of the lowlifes in this town, and I’m sure Sheriff Nedley would be very grateful if you would volunteer to help.”

Nicole looked up at Waverly holding her fingers crossed, earning herself a big smile and a mouthed thank you from the pretty brunette while they waited for Wynonna’s reply. It was at least a good sign that she was thinking about it.

“I hate cops.” Wynonna grumbled. For anyone that did not know Wynonna as well as she and Waverly did, this might seem like a negative answer, but the both of them knew this meant she needed a little more encouragement.

“You are best friends with a cop, Wynonna.” Waverly chuckled.

“I hate her though. I’m a complicated person.” Wynonna explained trying to sound serious but failing terribly.

“Yes, Wynonna, sure. And you hate Nedley even more so why not try to show him that the crazy Earp chick can do his job better than he can himself? I’m sure he would hate that.” Waverly replied, giving Nicole an apologetic smile. 

Nicole would never condone Wynonna making her boss’s job any harder than it already was but she could hope that Wynonna would actually help and everything would work out for the best. So she nodded at the girl and gave her a smile to let her know it was ok.

“Hmmmm, you make a good point there, baby girl. Ok, I’m in. Let operation Outnarc the Narcs start!” Wynonna agreed excitedly.

Nicole and Waverly shared a quick smile and high five and made arrangements to keep in touch with Wynonna as the back office agents supporting her “operation”. This way they could always try to keep her in check and convince her against doing anything too crazy.

Now that the excitement was over, it fully hit Nicole how horrible she was feeling and how tired she actually was. She looked at Waverly and felt an immense sadness in her chest, knowing the younger girl would probably start feeling as bad the next day and it was all her fault. But there was no time for that, it was late, they were both tired and she needed to make arrangements to make sure Waverly would be as comfortable as possible during her stay.

“Ok, now that all of that is over with, I would really like to get some sleep, if you don’t mind.” Nicole started. “Please make yourself at home and take whatever you need from the kitchen or from my closet and you can also take the bed. I am too tired and too weak, if I’m being completely honest, to make my way upstairs.” Nicole closed her eyes and rested against the back of the couch. She felt like she could sleep right then and there, so staying on the couch would be no problem at all and Waverly could use a good night of sleep before she started feeling like shit.

“Uh, nope. Not a chance in hell I’m letting you sleep here alone.” Waverly said decisively. “I’m assuming that as an adult, you have a bed that is big enough for the both of us and since we know nothing about this virus, I would very much like to keep an eye on you tonight.” Nicole was about to interject but Waverly cut her off, holding up her finger to signal she should wait, and continued. “If you won’t let me do this for your own well being, let me do it for myself. Soon enough I’ll be feeling as bad as you and the more information we can give to the doctors about how the symptoms are progressing the best they can help us. And I’m not sure how much we will be able to report to them when we are both out of it.”

Nicole still wanted to protest. If she was honest, she didn’t think she’d be very comfortable sharing a bed with the younger girl, but she did not see any way she could get out of it without revealing exactly that so she relented. 

“Ok, but you might need to help me get up there. I don’t trust my legs right now.” Nicole agreed with a sigh.

Warvely stood up and helped Nicole to her feet. She then wrapped one arm around Nicole’s waist and pulled Nicole’s arm around her shoulders. They had never been this close together before, and on top of being sick, this was making it even harder for Nicole to breathe.

Slowly they made their way up the stairs and Waverly helped Nicole onto the bed, excusing herself to go change into some clothes Nicole had suggested she take from her closet. Nicole was surprised how such a tiny little thing could be so strong, as Waverly had held up Nicole’s weight most of the way there. Waverly never ceased to amaze her and being stuck together with the girl was going to make ignoring her feelings towards her much harder.

As if reading her mind, Waverly came back into the room, wearing Nicole’s old college t-shirt, that was way too big for her, and some gym shorts that could barely be seen under the oversized top. She looked absolutely adorable and Nicole couldn’t help but stare as the girl made her way to the bed and climbed in next to her. 

And even after the lights were off and good nights had been said, despite Nicole’s tiredness, she still laid awake wondering how she would survive this quarantine. Not because of the virus, but because of Waverly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading and see you next week!


	3. All the wrong things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Nicole and Waverly's first day alone go? And what is Wynonna up to?

Nicole felt hot. So hot in fact, that she felt like she was burning up. She felt like her skin was on fire and the air around her was so thick she could barely take a breath. In a strange way, it was like she was drowning in the heat, and no matter how much she twisted and turned, she could never reach the cooler surface. 

Then there was a noise, a humming. Was there someone coming to rescue her from this hell on earth? All she could see was darkness but the humming persisted and then she could feel something cool pressed against her skin. It wasn’t as refreshing as water but soothed her skin nonetheless. She could feel herself calming down, and soon drifted into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Nicole woke up to the feeling of the sun shining on her face. She vaguely remembered a terrible nightmare but somehow she had managed to go back to sleep and actually wake up decently rested. Her head was throbbing and there was pressure in her chest but there was something still reassuring about that feeling and she couldn’t help but to let a small pleased sigh escape her lips. And as she did, the pressure was gone and she opened her eyes to the most beautiful sight of her life, a sleepy Waverly Earp looking down at her with a shy smile and blushing cheeks.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?” Waverly asked, moving to sit beside her and Nicole immediately missed the closeness, regardless of the effect it had on her body.

“Uh. Ok, I guess. I had a bad dream but otherwise I think I slept alright.” Nicole answered after taking a moment to remember how to speak.

“Yes, I know.” Waverly replied with an understanding smile that turned Nicole’s insides to mush. “You were trashing and turning in your sleep so I held you so you could calm down. I hope that was ok. It seemed to help at the time and I ended up falling asleep. I’m sorry you had to wake up with me all over you.”

The only thing better than waking up to Waverly all over her, would be for Nicole to be all over Waverly herself but that is not something the redhead was willing to share so she took a safer route instead.

“It did help. I don’t think I would have been as rested if you weren’t here, so thank you, Waverly. I just hope I am feeling well enough tonight to be there for you if you need it.” Nicole would never wish the girl any harm but she would be lying if she didn’t secretly hope for a reason to cuddle up with the cute brunette again, platonically, of course.

“Thank you.” Waverly said with a shy smile while quickly changing the subject and placing her hand on Nicole’s forehead. “Any other symptoms we should report to the doctors. Your fever seems to have gone down from last night but we should measure it just to be sure. Are you cold?” 

Nicole shook her head dumbly at that. The shiver Waverly had witnessed had only to do with Waverly’s touch on her skin and nothing to do with the temperature in the room. If anything, she was feeling uncomfortably warm being this close to the pretty girl.

“Just a headache, I guess.” Nicole answered finally, moving to get up. “My throat feels a little dry but that could be because I just woke up. I should go make us some breakfast to properly thank you for taking care of me last night.” 

In all honesty, Nicole really needed to get out of there. Being this close to Waverly was doing things to her and now that she didn’t feel like she was going to die anymore, she was afraid she would end up doing something stupid and that was the last thing she needed when they were both stuck in the same house together.

But as luck would have it, as soon as she tried to stand up, she felt dizzy and had to immediately sit back down again, prompting Waverly to come closer and hold her from behind as if afraid she would fall.

“You are not going anywhere, Missy!” Waverly told her forcefully. “Whatever is causing your headaches must also be causing this dizziness so you will stay here and rest. I will make us something to eat.” 

Nicole sighed heavily. This was not good at all. She needed to be better for Waverly. But it seemed that sheer willpower was not going to get her through this and as much as she wanted to let Waverly go so she could think this through without the distraction of being too close to the pretty girl, she knew they had to talk. There was no time to overthink this, Nedley might be calling soon and they needed to agree on what to say now that Nicole realized she was still out of commission. So she took a deep breath and decided to just go with the truth and hope for the best.

“Wait.” Nicole said, holding on to the younger girl’s hand so she wouldn’t move. “I - I was really hoping I would be feeling better today. I’m not used to being sick and I’m definitely not used to being helpless.” Nicole confided, so quietly, Waverly might have missed it if she was not sitting so close. “But more importantly than that, whatever I have, you also have, and you will probably start feeling like me at some point today.” Nicole looked up from the spot she had been staring on the floor to catch Waverly’s eye, trying to convey without words how sorry she was for getting her into this mess. “I’m just afraid that if I don’t get better soon, I won’t be able to take care of you and I am the reason why you are sick in the first place.” She took another deep breath and held Waverly’s hand tighter. She needed her to understand that she only wanted what was the best for her. “I - I think we should tell Nedley we cannot be left here alone. They should take us to a hospital. I need to know you will be safe and cannot guarantee that when I can’t even stand up on my own.” 

They just started at each other for a minute. Waverly kept opening her mouth as if to say something only to close it again a second later. Nicole knew she shouldn’t be thinking about these things right now but she thought it was quite adorable how caught off guard she was and also surprising that, for once, the younger Earp did not know the exact right thing to say.

“Ok, firstly, that is so sweet and please understand that I’m not trying to be ungrateful.” Waverly started. She seemed very focused and trying her best to make sure her words came across the way she intended. “You are trying to do the right thing and I get it but I will absolutely not go to a hospital unless it’s truly necessary.” 

Probably sensing the question mark hanging over Nicole’s head at that answer she continued. 

“These doctors know nothing about this virus right now and if we are there, we will be serving as guinea pigs, being poked and probed all day long while they look for answers and I would rather not have any of that, thank you very much. Also, as sweet as it is that you want to take care of me, I can take care of myself. I’ve done it my whole life... I was a skinny little thing and I got sick quite often but I made do. My mother was gone, my dad was always drunk, Wynonna was, well, not there and I had to figure out how to survive. So, please, trust me. I know I look small and defenseless but I am tougher than I look and if I made it to band practice after being hit by a tranquilizer dart, I think I can manage a virus.” Waverly gave her a wink and cocky smile, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation and Nicole was very happy she was still feeling dizzy or she might have leaned over and kissed that smile off her face.

“You are amazing, you know? I’m sorry if you felt like I was underestimating you. It was definitely not my intention. I would just never forgive myself if something ever happened with you.” Nicole was still holding Waverly’s hand and she felt her give it a slight squeeze to show her it was ok. “Besides, you and I both know your sister would kill me, and that would just be a huge loss to womankind.” Nicole added, trying to take a leaf from Waverly’s book and make light of the situation but immediately regretted it as she realized how flirty it sounded. She then let go of the girl’s hand and awkwardly went back to staring at the spot on the floor, but not before noticing the now familiar blush on the brunette’s cheek.

“Uh.” Waverly cleared her throat as she stood up from the bed and made her way to the door. “I guess you might already be starting to feel better if you are getting cheeky.” Nicole looked up at that and earned another wink from the younger girl. “I’ll go start breakfast. I’ll bring it up when it’s ready. You rest!”

“Thanks.” Nicole replied, dropping herself back onto the bed as Waverly walked out the door. Nicole sighed.This all sounded nice and good, and she would do as she was told and trust Waverly to get them through this but she had another problem now. She had to use the toilet and there was no way she was going to ask for Warverly’s help on that. 

She was a police officer after all, she dealt with life or death situations on a daily basis, she could handle this.

After analysing the pros and cons of such a risky course of action, Nicole decided that the easiest way to succeed on this mission and not be caught by what ought to be a very disappointed Waverly, was to play it as safe as humanly possible and test the waters while on neutral ground. So she got on all fours on the bed and tried moving around, back and forth and seeing how that would make her feel. She knew she must look ridiculous but she had to try, and she was pleasantly surprised when she realized, although she still felt dizzy, it was not unbearable as it was when she was standing up so she was sure she could do it. It wasn’t that far. She just needed to make it to the toilet and back. Waverly would never know.

She got out of bed and again on her fours and made her way as quickly as her dizziness would allow her while also still being as quiet as possible. After doing her business, she flushed the toilet and grabbed on to the bathroom sink to steady herself so she could wash her hands and brush her teeth. That wasn’t as smooth as she hoped for and she had to brace herself against the sink a couple times and as soon as she was done and could almost taste the victory of a successful mission, she heard a knock and a familiar voice coming from the other side of the door. Damn old houses and their noisy plumbings. 

“Nicole? Are you okay? Do you need help?” Came Waverly’s worried voice through the door.

Nicole froze. It was shameful really that a 5’9” trained Sheriff’s Deputy would be scared of such a tiny little thing but it was true. Waverly terrified her.

“Uh, ya, just finished.” She replied as she took a deep breath and opened the door, holding on to the door frame to keep her balance and barely succeeding. But in all fairness, after looking at Waverly’s stern expression, her shakiness might have been due to more than just the virus.

“Are you trying to hurt yourself? You can barely stand! I know I said we don’t need a hospital and we can take care of ourselves but that doesn’t mean we should be reckless. I’m still fine, I can help!” Waverly admonished her. 

Nicole just looked at her feet. She knew Waverly was right but she had her pride and there were certain lines she was unwilling to cross.

“I’m sorry, Waverly, but certain things I need to be able to do myself. It’s just too awkward to have my best friend’s little sister helping me use the toilet.” Nicole blurted out.

“Oh.” She replied quietly and Nicole wasn’t sure but she thought she saw Waverly face drop for a second before changing it to a neutral look. “Well, I’m sorry I’m not your first choice of quarantine partner but unfortunately for you, you are stuck with me. So we gotta make the best of it.” 

“Ugh, this virus must be messing with my brain because I keep on saying all the wrong things.” Nicole muttered, more to herself than anything, but she was sure the girl heard her as she stood expectantly, waiting for her to explain herself. 

“Look, Waverly, as I told you before, I think you are amazing and I really hope we will become good friends as we get to know each other better, but as it stands, we don’t know each other very well. Not yet anyway. And that is all I was trying to say.” Nicole was having a really hard time trying to balance being truthful without saying too much. Deep down she knew she actually hoped for more than friendship, even when she knew that would never happen, so she really had to watch what she said so she wouldn’t accidently slip up and let Waverly in on her secret. “And as choices go, I honestly would rather have you here with me than your sister. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wynonna, but she would just end up getting both of us killed one way or another.” 

Waverly smiled at that, and Nicole let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She really didn’t want the young Earp to be upset with her and she definitely didn’t want her to feel unwanted.

“I think there is as good a chance that Wynonna would get you to kill her, as her getting you both killed. But smart choice anyway, you are too cute for jail.” Waverly joked, obviously not thinking. Her brain quickly caught up to her mouth though and her eyes went as wide as saucers when she realized what she just said so she quickly changed the subject, clearly trying to ignore the shocked look on Nicole’s face. “So uh, breakfast is almost ready, do you want me to help you get downstairs to the couch or would you rather stay in bed?” 

“Ya, downstairs, sure.” Nicole replied dumbly. She wasn’t sure what was going on anymore and her head hurt too much for her to overthink it.

* * *

The rest of their day went better than expected. They hung out on the couch, watching movies and making the occasional chit chat. It was actually quite comfortable despite Nicole’s reservations. Nedley dropped the duffel bag with Waverly’s things on the porch and called them from the car to let them know it was there and also to check how they were doing. Nicole was still dizzy and her fever was back but overall she didn’t feel too bad, and Waverly was still not showing any symptoms whatsoever, so they told Nedley there was nothing he should worry about. 

However, at the end of the day, they were both very worried, not about themselves but about Wynonna. She hadn’t answered their calls or their texts and Nicole could see Waverly was starting to freak out. They had even called Shorty’s to check if she was working but nobody had seen her since the day before.

“What if she is dead in a ditch somewhere? We can’t even go looking for her!” Waverly panicked after trying to reach her again and not getting any answer. They were already in bed, but wanted to try to call her one more time because there was no way they would be able to sleep worrying about her.

“I’m sorry, Waverly. I shouldn’t have suggested that she go out investigating this thing. It’s all my fault and now…” But Nicole’s apology was cut off by the sound of Waverly’s phone ringing. It was Wynonna. Waverly immediately answered and put it on speaker.

“Wynonna, thank God! Are you ok? We were so worried! Where were…” Waverly started only to be interrupted by Wynonna. 

“Oi, dumbasses! Are you trying to get me killed?”Wynonna asked, obviously annoyed and completely ignoring anything Waverly had said before. “Do you know how hard it is to stay undercover and focused when your damn phone is going off every five damn seconds? I thought Arnold Schwarze-redder over there was supposed to be a big shot narc and understand how these things work but obviously you can’t trust a damn narc even when you are trying to narc yourself!”

“You were supposed to check in with us before you went and did something stupid, Wynonna.” Waverly tried to reason with her but it certainly backfired.

“Oh, because that is what I do, right? I just Earp things up and can’t be trusted on my own for one goddamned day.” Wynonna bit back. “I know you are the smart one in this family, Waverly, but I’m not fucking stupid.”

That escalated quickly and Nicole wasn’t sure how to safely approach this situation without making it worse, especially since she did not have the best track record on saying the right things today. But when Waverly looked up at her with pleading eyes, she knew she had to at least try. 

She knew her friend, and she knew even for her, going off on her sister like this was out of character, so something else must be going on to get her so on edge.

“Wynonna, breathe!” Nicole needed to calm her down so they could have an actual conversation instead of the shouting match that had happened so far. “Look, I’m sorry, ok? You are right. We shouldn’t have freaked out like that but we are stuck here and I guess cabin fever caught us sooner than expected. We are sorry, really.” Nicole then looked at Waverly, asking for her to take her lead and the young brunette also expressed her apologies. 

Wynonna stayed silent, and for once, Nicole took that as a good sign. She was listening.

“Now, do you want to tell us what happened today? Why did you have to go undercover?” Nicole tried and was happy to hear a defeated sigh coming from Wynonna.

“I went visiting some of my old buddies, you know, from back in the day. I told them I was in trouble and I needed some quick cash and I heard Carl was out of commission so I wanted to offer to take over his contacts until he was back.” Nicole did not like the sound of that at all, and looking at Waverly, it didn’t seem like she did either. But they remained silent so Wynonna could continue.

“They thought it was a good idea and sent me to meet with the boss. So I went there and Bobo was very pleased at my pro-activeness, cuz you know, some people don’t think I’m damn stupid.” Wynonna was obviously not ready to let go of that yet and Nicole reached for Waverly’s hand, begging her not to engage. Seeing how she wasn’t going to get the fight she was hoping for, Wynonna went on. 

“So Bobo gave me the list of all of Carl’s contacts and the key to his place so I could get the… stuff. I went there and I searched everything to see if I could find any clues to where he’s been and if he also had contact with anyone outside the list and I took pictures and I even made damn notes and everything and it was a lot of people to check on so I thought, Red Riding Hood told me the damn hunter would be happy if I said I wanted to help and not shoot me down for being a big bad wolf, so I went to the Sheriff’s office and I talked to Nedley cuz if we split the list, it would be a lot faster, and do you know what he said?” Shit, Nicole did not know exactly what Nedley had said but she had a very good idea where this was going and that would totally explain Wynonna’s demeanor. She looked over at Waverly and could see her face drop. They both knew this was not going to be good but still refrained from commenting until Wynonna was done. 

“No guesses, ok? He said I had no business meddling in police business and if Officer Haught-shot had suggested such a thing, it must have been obviously a side effect of her high fever and if I am caught anywhere near those people again, I will be arrested on the spot for obstruction of justice. He then took all my hard work, dropped in a drawer and kicked me out.” Wynonna finished with a humorless laugh. 

“So thanks a lot, Red, for getting me shot down and reminding me that the only people that appreciate me in this damn town are my own kind, the scumbags. And thanks a lot, baby girl, for letting me know how you really think about me.” At that, both Waverly and Nicole went to speak at the same time but Wynonna cut them off, once again.

“No, you don’t get to speak anymore. I’ve done enough listening to the two of you. I’ve had a long day and there’s a nice bottle of whiskey waiting for me and I’d much rather spend time with it than with the both of you right now. Also, don’t call me. I will call you when I feel like it.” And with that she hung up, leaving Nicole and Waverly staring at each other in shock. 

They were pretty much only on day one of their two weeks or more quarantine, how the hell were they going to fix this when they couldn’t leave the house or even call Wynonna? For Nicole, only one thing was sure, neither of them would be getting much sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as always. I hope you enjoyed it and see you next week!
> 
> PS: Next week is a really busy one with the Wynonna S01 marathon on Thursday and HomeCon on Friday and Saturday so I hope I can still make it on Sunday but please forgive me if I'm late. :)


	4. Musings and Flashbacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly has a confession and Nicole's flashes back at a conversation she had with Wynonna.
> 
> This is a short one and it was a tough one to write as it goes into some dark stuff of the Earp sister's past. It will not be the most fun chapter but it was needed for some context and backstory. I'm already half way through the next chapter and I hope that one will be more fun!
> 
> Also, sorry for delay in updating. Quarantine blues got me there for a while but I'm back in business!

Nicole did not know how long she had laid there awake when she noticed Waverly’s breathing change. So far she had seemed unaffected by the virus but it could very well be that it was affecting Waverly differently and breathing problems were not something to be taken lightly. Already starting to panic, she moved closer to the younger girl to see what was wrong and immediately realised this was a different problem altogether. Waverly was crying.

She was trying to keep as quiet as possible, but her change in breathing pattern also resulted in a change in the vibrations on the bed, which had sent Nicole in high alert. Now she was conflicted, between not knowing which lines were safe enough to cross, and just wanting to comfort Waverly. Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to go with the latter, and brought the girl into her arms. Waverly welcomed the comfort and began to sob freely onto Nicole’s shoulders.

“Hey, it’s ok. It’s gonna be ok. We’ll fix this.” She whispered in her ear over and over, while her hand drew soothing patterns on the smaller girl’s back. She didn’t need to ask her why she was crying. She knew it had to be because of Wynonna. Which was exactly the same reason why Nicole was still awake in the middle of the night.

After a few minutes, Waverly seemed to calm down. Her breathing became steady and the tears soaking Nicole’s shoulders stopped but the smaller girl made no effort to leave the comfort of Nicole’s arms.

“Are you feeling better? Do you want to talk about it?” Nicole whispered, hugging Waverly tighter as if to give her an extra boost if she needed one.

“I am, thank you. But can we talk about it in the morning? I think I just used up all my energy and we both should get some rest. Sorry to have woken you up.” Waverly replied, her voice muffled by Nicole’s t-shirt as she pressed her face further onto it.

“It’s ok. I wasn’t asleep anyway, but you are right. We should at least try.” Nicole agreed while letting go of Waverly to start moving to her own side of the bed. Her movements were immediately halted though, by the young brunette tightening her grip and not letting her move away.

“Can you… Can we just stay like this?” Waverly asked shyly, still not moving her face from her now familiar place on Nicole’s shoulder.

“Yes, of course.” Nicole replied understandingly. She realised now that had stiffened up, being caught by surprise at Waverly’s actions so she made sure to relax in the embrace so Waverly would understand she was in no way uncomfortable by this. On the contrary, nothing ever felt more right than the feeling of Waverly in her arms and now that younger Earp was no longer in distress she could finally let herself treasure it. “I just thought you might want your own space to sleep, but I’m totally fine staying like this.” Nicole continued in an effort to also reassure the girl with her words.

“I have nightmares.” Waverly stated quietly. “I’ve had them pretty much every night since… since I was a little girl. My ex-boyfriends would always complain that I trashed and turned and sometimes even screamed in my sleep, so after a while they wouldn’t even bother staying the night. I guess it was a perfect excuse for a good old wham-bam thank you ma’am, not that they even bother to thank me.” Waverly trailed off, deep in thought, and as Nicole was about to comment on the piece of shit ex-boyfriends, she continued. 

“Last night though, after I suggested that we both take the bed, I realised that it might not be the best idea, because you are sick and you need your rest and I didn’t want to be the reason why you had a restless night so I tried to stay awake, and just make sure you were ok, so the nightmares wouldn’t come. When I saw you were having nightmares of your own, it felt weird, being on the other side of it, and I just wanted to try to do something to calm you down, so I held you and it seemed to help but not only that, I just felt so comfortable and… and safe, I ended up falling asleep myself and it was the first time I could sleep through night for as long as I remember.” Waverly confided, glancing at Nicole for the first time during this whole interaction, and quickly hiding her face again. “I don’t know why I just told you all of that, to be honest. I don’t mean to make you feel sorry for me, or guilt you into this. And I did say we should sleep and talk in the morning so let’s do that, ok?” Waverly pleaded with her and Nicole just hugged her tighter, taking the hint to not push the conversation.

She felt a pang of sadness deep in her heart at the girl’s confession. It wasn’t pity or anything like that, it was just something that she couldn’t quite pinpoint just yet, or if she was honest, wanted to. It just hurt her to think about all the pain Waverly had been through. She didn’t need the girl to tell her what the reasons for her nightmares were. She knew. Wynonna had confided in her, one drunken night a couple months back, on the anniversary of the day that had changed the Earp sisters lives forever.

Their hardships had started even before that though. Their father had been an angry alcoholic and their mother had left when Waverly was still a baby. Nicole shuddered at that thought. What kind of human being could pack up and leave her three defenseless daughters, one of them still a baby, to the mercy of a violent drunk? Nicole really couldn’t understand and also could not decide which one of them had actually been the worst parent. 

So at the young age of 10, their eldest sister Willa had to become an adult and take care of her sisters the best way she could, and while she did it, she also hated it. Wynonna had told her that Willa especially resented Waverly, and Wynonna still carried around the guilt of not doing anything to stop her baby sister’s mistreatment by their older sibling. Waverly had never done anything wrong, the girl had always been an angel, but Willa was angry. 

She was angry about their mother leaving, angry about their incompetent father, and really angry about having to give up her childhood in order to raise a baby that she neither birthed, nor wanted. And while she could not take out her anger on her parents, she surely did on Waverly. She had made the younger Earp’s life as miserable as possible for as long as she was alive; until that fateful day.

Wynonna had downed half a bottle of whiskey before she managed to tell Nicole about this part. Nicole could still picture the haunted look in her friend’s eyes at the memory, and that day she started understanding a little better why her friend drank so much. It was all an effort to drown her demons and keep the memories at bay.

Wynonna had said that she had been suspicious for a while that something might be wrong. Her father had been acting cagey and had been spending all his time drinking at home, instead of at the bar with his buddies. That specific night he had been the worst she had ever seen, from the moment he had gotten home from work he had hit the bottle hard and would jump at any noise the girls would make. Willa had tried to talk to him. She was the only one that could since she was his favorite, but even she wasn’t able to make him slow down, or explain why he was so nervous. Grown-up stuff, he had said, nothing children should worry about. 

Then there had been the banging on the door, the screams for Ward to open up and pay up. Ward had run to his room to get his gun and had ordered the girls to hide but Willa hadn’t listened. She had taken care of this family for years to that point and Wynonna knew she truly thought she could fix whatever mess her father had gotten himself into, just like when she cleaned up his puke, and helped him bathe after a especially bad night of drinking. She thought she was the true parent of this family, Ward was just another one of her children.

Willa had opened the door, while Wynonna held on to Waverly and hid behind the couch. A group of armed men had immediately taken hold of Willa and while pointing a gun to her head, had demanded Ward to stop being a coward and show up to pay what he owed. It turned out that Ward had lost a lot of money to some really bad people on an illegal game of poker and he had been hiding at home ever since because he did not have the means to pay up.

When Ward had come out of the room, gun up, shaking hands from nerves and alcohol, he had tried to plead with them not to hurt Willa. If it was blood they needed, they could take his, but to please not hurt his girl. Wynonna had chuckled when recounting that part. She was sure that had been the most selfless thing her father had ever done, and she doubted he would have done the same if it had been herself or Waverly in harm’s way. Regardless, the men had not cared. They had said they would take Willa as collateral, and they would return her once Ward had paid what he owed. One of the men then had mentioned they wouldn’t harm her, they would just play with her a little and Ward had lost it, he had tried to aim at them, but he had been so drunk he could barely stand and was no match to the thug that had jumped him and tackled him to the ground. 

In the commotion, the gun had fallen from his hand and slid all the way behind the couch where Wynonna and Waverly were hiding. Wynonna had never held a gun before, her father would never even let her close to his, but now it was there, right in front of her. Her father was incapacitated on the ground, her older sister and role model, being held at gun point and under threat of undergoing unspeakable things. She did not know what she was doing but she felt like she had to do something so she picked up the gun, aimed at the man holding her sister and pulled the trigger. And she did hit him, bullet to the stomach, but not without hitting Willa in the chest first.

Both had died before the ambulance had even gotten there and throughout the years the police department had been able to round down all men involved in the attack and arrest them on attempted kidnapping and multiple other criminal offenses. The shooting had been deemed an accident and Wynonna had not incurred charges but then again, having to live with the guilt of having killed her own sister was definitely a bigger punishment than one could ever imagine. Not to mention, the hatred towards her she could see in her father’s eyes every time he looked at her. The wrong sister had died and it was all her fault. He had told her he wished she was the one dead so many times when he was drunk that she started to believe it herself.

Wynonna had then told Nicole that the only reason she kept on living back then had been Waverly. She was still so small and helpless, there was no way she would leave her alone with their dad. But she was still a kid herself and she was hurting and she didn’t know how to cope with that. Everyone in town saw her as the freak that killed her sister, and the only people that paid her mind were the ones that actually thought that was cool. Needless to say they weren't the best crowd to hang around but they were her people. And through that crowd she got mixed up with drugs, they helped with the pain. First it was just using, then it was dealing and as her luck goes, a week into that she found herself being sent to juvie for 6 months. 

After being there, she was far from rehabilitated. She had, in fact, been trained in several new disciplines, such as pickpocketing, hot-wiring, fistfighting and the basics of lockpicking. All skills that just kept getting her sent back to juvie over and over again. After she was done with school, which by a miracle she managed to finish, she had spent more time in juvie over the past few years than at home, and that made her think Waverly was doing fine without her. She was first in all her classes, she had friends, and she was only ever made fun of when Wynonna was around. So she left. She thought she was doing Waverly a favor, while at the same time, freeing herself of the place that brought her down and drowned her in guilt and shame.

After years of traveling and learning to live with herself and her guilt in her own way and trying to stay out of trouble, she had come back to reconnect with her sister. Their father had died of cirrhosis a couple years back and while Wynonna had been notified, she hadn’t bothered to come back to pay her respects, as she didn’t think he ever deserved any. She regretted that now, as her sister could have used her support. She regretted ever leaving Waverly now that she was back and she realised Waverly had not really been doing fine, she was just very good at faking it.

Nicole sighed. She felt bad now, knowing all those things about Waverly without Waverly’s knowledge or consent. But she was also happy Wynonna had been comfortable sharing such a painful story with her. If Waverly also felt like sharing, she would just listen and not provide any input from Wynonna’s side of it. It would be a tough balancing job but the more she got to know the younger Earper the deeper a connection she felt with her, and Wynonna also was the best friend she ever had, so she would do her best not to mess it up with either of them. Now she just needed to figure out a way to get Wynonna to talk to her again and it would all be fine.

She sighed again, and repositioned herself so she could be a bit more comfortable but also not disturb the now sleeping Waverly. She had had enough of overthinking for one night, she was going to get some sleep and tackle all these issues tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks for reading and thanks for all your comments! You guys are the best and pulled me through to come back to this story!
> 
> Let me know what you think :)


	5. You up?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texting, flirting and Clumsy!Nicole.
> 
> I suck at summaries so that is all you're getting LOL

Nicole could definitely get used to this. She woke up to Waverly peacefully sleeping in her arms and she wished she could freeze time and just stay in that moment for all of eternity. But of course, the universe had other plans, as after just a few seconds of watching the sleeping girl in her arms, she felt the unstoppable urge to cough, and had to immediately sit down and turn around to avoid coughing all over the girl’s face. Which in turn, made Waverly drop from her spot on Nicole’s chest onto the bed.

“Ugh! What’s going on?” Grumbled Waverly, still half asleep.Her question was quickly answered by Nicole’s violent coughing, which got the brunette fully awake and by the redhead’s side, rubbing her back, in no time.

“Are you ok? Do you need anything? Maybe some water?” Asked Waverly after a couple minutes when Nicole finally stopped coughing. Nicole just nodded, not feeling like she could speak just yet but Waverly understood and went to grab her a glass of water.

When Waverly came back, Nicole was lying down on the bed, one hand covering her eyes and another on top of her chest. She had been feeling fine when she woke up, or so she thought, but now her head was exploding again and she had a pressure on her chest that made her feel very uncomfortable, unlike when Waverly was cuddling to her.

“Here. Drink some water.” Said Waverly, sitting next to Nicole on the bed and rubbing her arm affectionately. “How are you feeling?” She continued as Nicole sat up and took the glass of water from her.

“Not good.” Replied Nicole in a rough voice, after taking a couple sips of water. But as it turned out, talking was not a good idea and as soon as she spoke, the need to cough came back, even stronger than last time. Waverly took the glass from the redhead’s hand and once again rubbed soothing circles in her back as she coughed non-stop for another couple minutes.

“Ok, I guess you should refrain from talking for a while.” Waverly told Nicole once the coughing fit was over. “Can you walk or are you still feeling dizzy?”

Nicole stood up and took a deep breath in relief. She was not dizzy today. At least that. She turned around and gave Waverly a thumbs up and a half smile as a way of confirmation, which earned her a big smile from the brunette in return. She felt like shit and she knew she also looked like shit, her hair was greasy and she had tears in her eyes from the coughing, and she probably didn’t smell the best either because she hadn’t managed to get a proper shower the day before, but right now, in that moment, she couldn’t care less. Waverly Earp was beaming at her and that alone made her feel like a thousand bucks.

The spell was quickly broken though when Waverly got up and told her she would go start breakfast. Nicole could only nod and tried to gesture that she would take a shower. She must have looked like an idiot with one hand mimicking the shower and another rubbing across her body but it earned her a cute blush and giggle from Waverly so she couldn’t really complain.

After Nicole was showered and dressed, she walked downstairs to fresh coffee and a warm breakfast of gluten free vegan pancakes and caramelised bananas. Her head was starting to feel a little better after taking some painkillers, and the warm steam from the shower had also helped release some of the pressure from her chest, but as she tried to thank Waverly for the delicious breakfast she had made, she realized all that coughing had caused her to lose her voice, so she resorted mouthing it instead.

“It was my pleasure.” Replied Waverly with a smile. “I’m glad you enjoy my food. Wynonna wouldn’t eat this even if you paid her.” As soon as Waverly mentioned her sister’s name, her smile dropped and she got up and started cleaning up their plates. Nicole also stood up and tried to show her that she would do it as Waverly had cooked but Waverly pretended not to understand and continued what she was doing.

“I called Nedley, by the way.” The small brunette said, changing the subject. “I asked him to drop off some more medicines and ingredients to make you something to help with the cough. We also discussed the fact that I am still not showing any symptoms. He said I should come to the hospital and be tested, you know, in case I’m not contagious I would be able to leave.” Waverly looked at Nicole as she said that, and Nicole’s breath caught in her throat. 

She didn’t want to be a burden on Waverly. The girl should be able to go out and live her life without being stuck taking care of Nicole 24-7, but Nicole would be lying if she didn’t admit she wanted her to stay. Spending time with Waverly the past couple days had been amazing. Sometimes she even forgot she was sick, so content she was with the young Earp’s presence, so selfishly she was hoping she wouldn’t have to spend the next week and a half by herself.

“I told him I would prefer not to do that.” Waverly continued with a small smile, seemingly pleased with Nicole’s reaction to that piece of information. Nicole didn’t even try to hide the big sigh of relief she let out at those news and she couldn’t help but see Waverly’s smile grow even wider. “As I told him before, I don’t want to be poked and prodded by some brainiacs in lab coats, besides I don’t mind just waiting it out with you.” Waverly looked again at Nicole as she said that and Nicole was getting increasingly aware of how the younger girl always seemed to be looking out for Nicole’s reaction to her words. That worried her. Waverly didn’t seem uncomfortable around her, especially considering their latest sleeping arrangements but Nicole was still worried the brunette was starting to notice that Nicole’s feelings for her might be more than friendship.

Nicole just smiled and nodded in reply, trying to seem grateful but not overly pleased. She needed to be careful if Waverly was going to watch her like a hawk. Maybe losing her voice was not a bad thing after all. Less chance to screw up if she couldn’t talk.

Once they were done cleaning up, Waverly went up for a shower and Nicole made herself comfortable on the couch and started to look for something they could watch together on netflix. After she had settled on a movie, she heard the bell ring and knew their delivery from Nedley would be waiting on the porch. She gave whoever was dropping it off a minute to get away from the door and back in their car, and went to retrieve the bag. She waved at Lonnie in the distance as she picked it up and started checking the contents as she brought it inside. She saw some generic flu medication, cough syrup but also a bottle of whiskey, limes and honey. 

“It’s an old Earp cough remedy.” Explained Waverly with a smile, as she walked into the kitchen and saw the puzzled look in Nicole’s face. “I know you are probably thinking, of course Earps would have whiskey as medicine but I can assure you that it really works. Warm whiskey, a lime slice and a good helping of honey will make you feel better in no time.” Nicole laughed at that and gave Waverly a look that she hoped conveyed a sarcastic ‘I bet it will’ remark. Waverly shook her head with a laugh of her own and continued, as she started to prepare the concoction. “Yes, the alcohol helps on the feel good part but I promise your cough and your voice will also get better.” 

When the drink was ready, they walked back to the couch to watch the movie Nicole had picked out. She felt weird having alcohol that early in the day but if Waverly thought it would help, she would give it a try. She still had to cough a couple times during the movie but the warmth of the drink, combined with the heat of the alcohol and the smoothness of the honey were indeed making her feel a lot better. By the time the movie was over, she had a light buzz but her throat was feeling much better than it had been earlier in the day.

She had noticed however that throughout the movie Waverly kept looking at her phone, probably hoping Wynonna would reach out. Nicole knew it was too soon and the older Earp would need more time but it broke her heart to see how hard Waverly was taking this situation with her sister. They hadn’t had time to talk and now with Nicole not being able to speak, it made comforting the younger girl much harder. However, with alcohol flowing in her blood and honey soothing her throat, she got an idea and followed the girl into the kitchen as she went to prepare another drink for Nicole.

“Can I get your number?” Nicole whispered in Waverly’s ear, standing closely behind her as the girl got her ingredients together. Waverly must have been distracted in her thoughts and not have noticed Nicole walk behind her as she let out a high pitch scream and dropped the lime she had in her hand. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Nicole whispered again, hugging the smaller girl from behind, in an attempt to calm her down. Nicole could feel her shiver and try to steady her breathing but she did not reply or push Nicole away so the redhead continued. “I still can’t really talk and whispering seems to work for now, but I shouldn’t really push it so I figured we could text.” Nicole could see the hairs in Waverly’s arms standing at attention and the girl’s breathing was still unsteady but in her buzzed state, she just chalked it up to PTSD and vowed to not scare the younger girl again.

“It’s ok.” Waverly finally replied, turning around in Nicole’s arms but still not pushing her away. “You just surprised me, that’s all.” Waverly was looking straight into Nicole’s eyes and their faces were so close now, Nicole could see the golden specks in Waverly’s beautiful green eyes. Before she could do something stupid, Nicole took a step backwards and smiled sheepishly at the other girl, handing the girl her phone so she could add her contact. Waverly blinked a couple times, surprised by the action but quickly recovered, took the phone and added her number.

“There you go.” Waverly said with a strained smile as she handed the phone back to Nicole and turned back around to finish off the drink. This time, however, she also made one for herself with an extra large helping of whiskey. When she was done, she handed Nicole the mug wordlessly and walked back to the couch, leaving the redhead standing dumbly in the kitchen, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Half way through the next movie, Nicole could no longer deny that Waverly’s mood had definitely taken a turn to the worst. She wasn’t really sure what she had done to annoy her but whatever it was she would do her damndest to fix it. Completely forgetting about the movie, she took out her phone and wrote a text.

Nicole: Hey! You up? ;)

She looked over at Waverly when she heard the text notification and was pleased to see it brought a smile to her face, even if she tried to hide it. She knew it was flirty but in all honesty she meant it to be funny and being now half way through her second Earp “tea”, her inhibitions were close to none. She saw Waverly type a reply and soon heard the chirping of her own notification.

Waverly: New phone. Who dis?

Nicole chuckled at the reply and started to write her own. She was happy Waverly took this as a joke and hopefully it would work to lighten her mood.

Nicole: You don’t know? I am offended! 

She looked up again and could see Waverly openly smile now and it warmed her heart that it was because of her.

Waverly: It could be so many people… I am a popular girl, you know? You will really have to tell me.

Nicole thought about the best answer and as she was feeling bold, she decided to turn it up a notch.

Nicole: Ok, that is fair. Tell me this then, who would you want it to be?

She looked up as she pressed send, curious to see Waverly’s reaction. Waverly took a deep breath as she read the question and she looked up straight into Nicole’s eyes with an unreadable look in her face before she looked back down and typed a quick reply.

Waverly: I’m not telling you that.

Nicole saw the answer and didn’t really know what to make of it. She was too invested in this now to back down though, so she tried again.

Nicole: Give me a hint?

Waverly looked at the text and sighed. She stood up, downed the contents of her mug, and walked to the kitchen, leaving Nicole beating herself up for crossing a line and upsetting the girl again. About a minute later though, Nicole got a new text notification and saw Waverly had replied.

Waverly: Someone nobody would expect, or understand.

Nicole read the text a couple times and still had no idea who the girl could be talking about. Waverly had dated most of the single guys in town since she had broken up with her ex so who would it be that people wouldn’t expect or understand. Maybe he was married, Nicole thought suddenly. That would suck for the younger Earp. Nicole knew what it was like to have feelings for someone unattainable and as much as it might hurt to hear Waverly talk about her feelings for someone else, she wanted to be there for the younger girl.

Nicole: Hey, I know we don’t know each other for that long, but you can talk to me about anything. I would never judge you. I wanna be there for you, like you are here for me.

Another minute passed and Nicole got a reply, but not the one she was hoping for.

Waverly: Your turn. Who would you want to send you a text like that?

Nicole sighed. The person texting me right now, she thought. But she couldn’t let her know that. She couldn’t scare her away and as she was thinking the best way to reply to her message, the young girl walked back to the couch with a fresh drink in her hand and raised her eyebrows expectantly at the redhead. Nicole sighed again. She couldn’t lie either, Waverly had been cryptical but hopefully honest so she would do the same.

Nicole: Someone that has texted me before but not in the way I’d like her to.

Nicole pressed send and looked over at Waverly. Her heart broke when she saw the girl’s face fall as she read the reply. Was Nicole too obvious? Did she know she was talking about her? With the way Waverly had been watching her reactions lately, she might have been suspicious and now Nicole just confirmed what she thought was true, and she was obviously not happy about it.

“You know, I was thinking when I was in the kitchen.” Waverly said with a blank expression on her face, bringing Nicole’s attention back to her and away from her thoughts. “With all this texting, I realised Wynonna told us not to call her, but she didn’t say anything about texting.” She sighed and looked down at her lap, playing with the phone in her hands. “I cannot tell you what to do and how you want to mend your relationship with her but I cannot just sit here and let her wallow in her self pity. She asked us not to call, and I will respect that but I will try to apologise and explain what I really meant in a text and if she wants to ignore it, she can but if she does read it, I hope she reaches out and we can straighten things out.” Waverly looked up again and Nicole nodded and gave her a small smile to show her she understood. 

Nicole did understand how Waverly felt. Wynonna was not her family by blood but she was the closest thing to family she had in this town. Also, typing out their feelings might actually work a lot better than trying to express them in the heat of the moment on a call. So as Waverly typed frantically on her phone, Nicole also typed out a message to her best friend.

Nicole: Hey, Earp.  
You said no calling but Waverly and I agreed texting was fair game.  
Look, I understand you are upset and you have every right to be.  
What Sheriff Nedley did was horrible and I am so so sorry I put you in a position where that could happen, but what you said to us, to me, was not fair.  
I appreciate you so much and so does Waverly!  
You are my best friend, damnit, and I would not trade you for the world!  
If I am at fault here, it is because I don’t see you how the rest of this town does and I was naive in thinking the Sheriff could put behind his age old grudge against you for my sake.  
All I see in you is an amazing person and an amazing friend and I am very happy to have you in my life.  
You are my person.  
Please let me know how I can fix this because I need to fix this.  
Call me.

Nicole read and reread the texts. It was sent and done and all she could do now was wait. She looked over at Waverly and she was still typing. The girl was prone to rambling so no wonder she was writing her sister an essay. Nicole’s head was hurting again and she checked the time to see if she could take another painkiller. It was past twelve so she should start making them some lunch and she’d take her medication after she ate. Hopefully Waverly would also cheer up again after some food and if not, she’d have to think of something else.

* * *

They ate in silence and although Waverly did not seem openly upset, she also did not look as cheerful as she had been earlier in the day. Nicole could not tell if it was due to their texting earlier or to the fight with her sister and considering how Nicole’s headache only got worse while making the food, she decided to leave it be and go take a nap after taking her meds.

By the time she woke up and walked downstairs, she found Waverly asleep on the couch, twisting and turning, and a look of distress on her face. She was clearly having a nightmare and Nicole quickly walked up to her side to try to help her calm down. In her haste, she did not notice the book that was lying on the ground, probably fallen from Waverly’s hand when she fell asleep. Not looking where she was going, she stepped on it, slipped and landed herself right on top of Waverly, causing the girl to wake up with a scream.

Nicole tried to push herself out of the girl as quickly as she could but her hand slipped from the side of the couch and she ended up falling on her all over again. Mortified and obviously still not fully awake, she just gave up and hid her face on the girl’s pillow, whispering a muffled apology.

“I don’t know if you are trying to be creative or what, but I’m not super thrilled with the ways you’ve been waking me up lately.” Waverly chucked, seeming not too bothered by the redhead lying on top of her. Nicole tried apologising again with her face deep into the pillow but when Waverly commented she could not hear her, she turned her head around so her lips were almost touching Waverly’s ear and tried again.

“I’m sorry, I tripped on something and fell. And my limbs don’t seem to want to cooperate in getting myself up.” Nicole whispered and could immediately feel Waverly’s breathing change and her whole body tremble under her. That gave her pause. She had felt this exact same feeling many times in her life when being on top of a pretty girl, but never in a platonic situation. She raised herself up on one elbow, hoping not to slip again this time and looked the girl in the eyes, trying to gage what was going on.

Nicole had noticed the flirting, the giggling and the blushing and she had always written it off as Waverly being nice, and bubbly and shy, but now she wasn’t so sure anymore. She didn’t want to get her hopes up but a physical response like that was hard to ignore. Now that she thought about it, she had also had a similar response earlier in the kitchen. So she just stared deep into her eyes and hoped to somehow get an answer to her unspoken question.

“Nicole.” Started Waverly quietly as she seemed to gather her thoughts, but in that moment, Nicole’s phone started ringing in her pocket, interrupting their moment and startling Nicole, causing her to fall off the couch.

Nicole grabbed her phone, already cursing at whoever was calling and when she realized who it was she looked up with wide eyes and whispered at Waverly. “It’s Wynonna.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for reading! All comments and feedback are appreciated. :)


	6. What are you on?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls talk to Wynonna and some things get resolved while others... not so much.
> 
> This is a short one, but the next one is coming soon!

“Wynonna?” Asked Waverly tentatively once Nicole answered the phone.

“Red, take me off speakerphone.” Wynonna instructed with a sigh. It wasn’t a question and although she could see how Wynonna’s instruction had hit Waverly like a slap in the face, she did as instructed. She didn’t know what Waverly had texted her sister or why Wynonna wanted to speak to her in private, but she would be helping nobody by pissing Wynonna off right now.

“Done.” Nicole whispered as loudly as she could.

“I wanted to be out of speakerphone but whispering is not necessary, Haught-sauce.” Wynonna replied and Nicole couldn’t help but smile at her friend using one of her horrible nicknames for her. She sounded normal. Maybe they were ok again. Nicole held on to that hope and continued trying to speak.

“Sick. Lost my voice. You talk, I listen.” Nicole barely managed to get that when she started coughing again. She had been ok most of the day, but talking really didn’t do her any good.

“Oh, geez! Gotcha!” Wynonna agreed when Nicole had finally managed to stop coughing again. “Listen, I read your text and I am also maybe kinda sorry I went off on you like that yesterday. You are a good friend and you always believe in me. It’s not your fault that your boss is douchebag and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” Nicole smiled and nodded, not really realising that Wynonna couldn’t really see her. “So what I’m trying to say is, you are sorry, I’m sorry, so it all cancels out and we don’t need to do this emotional bullshit anymore, right? So we can pretend it never happened until maybe one day I get drunk and I tell you that you are also my person and maybe we cry and hug and I tell you that I love you and then I threaten to beat the shit out of you if you ever repeat it to anyone and if you ever mention it again I’ll just say it was the alcohol and we are good. But until then, we don’t talk about it, got it?” 

“Got it.” Nicole confirmed with the biggest smile on her face. She was so happy and relieved things were ok again between them. “Do you want to…” Nicole started, assuming Wyonna would like to speak to Waverly next, but Wynonna cut her off.

“No yet. Things aren’t as simple on that one. She said… a lot of things and I need to process it and I need time for that.” Wynonna admitted with a sigh, before changing again to her business as usual voice. “Well, you can’t really talk right now and I said what I wanted to say so I’m gonna go. You take care of her for me, ok?”

“Ok.” Nicole conceded. She couldn’t force Wynonna to speak with her sister and truth be told, if she wasn’t ready for that conversation yet, it was best to give her time or else she might explode again and things would only get worse. She did want her friend to know she was there for her though. “And Wynonna?” She asked to make sure she was paying attention.

“Yeah?” Wynonna impatiently, probably hoping Nicole wouldn’t try to change her mind.  
“I love you too.” Nicole stated simply.

“And I’m hanging up now!” Wynonna stated. And she did hang up but Nicole could hear the smile on her friend’s voice as she said that and it only made Nicole’s smile ever wider, if that was even possible. That is until she finally looked over at Waverly and saw the disappointment all over the younger girl’s face. “I’m sorry.” Nicole started to say but once again got sent into a coughing fit that stopped her from explaining what Wynonna had said.

“It’s fine.” Waverly replied, trying to seem unaffected but failing miserably. Still coughing Nicole gave her a look that told her she wasn’t buying it and the young brunette continued. “I am happy for you, really. This whole thing just caught me by surprise, is all.” Not bothering to acknowledge the puzzled look on Nicole's face, she stood up and walked to the kitchen, mentioning she would make her another drink to help with her cough, and leaving Nicole wondering once more what the hell had just happened.

* * *

For the next couple days, Nicole still could not speak and Waverly did not seem in the mood for texting so they barely talked with each other. It wasn’t really uncomfortable, but it wasn’t the same as it used to be either. Not wanting to push her luck and make things worse while not actually being able to hold a normal conversation, Nicole decided to let things progress as they may and have a conversation with Waverly about it once her voice had returned.

Waverly would still cuddle up with Nicole to sleep and they would spend most of their time sitting next to each other on the couch, either watching something on TV together or Waverly would be reading a book while Nicole busied herself on her laptop. Nicole’s coughing had stopped so she was hoping her voice would come back soon and Waverly still did not show any signs of being sick, so all and all, things were mostly uneventful.

That morning Nicole had woken up alone in bed and as she was now used to very little communication between herself and Waverly, she assumed she was making breakfast and went to get a nice long shower. When she finally walked into the kitchen later she found the smaller girl sitting at the kitchen table, hiding her face in her hands and muttering to herself. Nicole couldn’t get what she was saying but she did not seem happy. Still not comfortable to speak, Nicole walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and as the brunette looked up, she mouthed ‘Are you ok?’ and pulled up a chair to sit next to her.

“Yeah.” Waverly replied with a smile that Nicole couldn’t quite place. Was it apologetic? Or embarrassed? Nevertheless, it was the first honest smile Waverly had had in a while and Nicole was happy to see it. “Wynonna called.” Waverly started looking at Nicole and then quickly down at the table where she was playing with some mandarin peels. 

A wave of relief washed over Nicole at the news. Of course she was happy the sisters worked out whatever issue they had in the past days, but even more than that, she was incredibly relieved to see that Wynonna was the reason for Waverly’s change in demeanour, and not herself. Maybe now that the Earp girls were back on speaking terms, Nicole and Waverly could also have their long overdue talk about whatever had happened that day on the couch.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Waverly continued, still looking at her hands. “Wynonna and I, we are stubborn, and things can get pretty heated sometimes.” She chuckled at that and finally looked up at Nicole again. “But we are good now. All misunderstandings have been cleared out and some things, well, they just are what they are and we have no control over it, so it’s not fair for me to hold her accountable.”

Nicole just smiled at Waverly and nodded. She had no idea what she was talking about and what these things were supposed to be but it was none of her business what the sisters had discussed. If they had gotten to an understanding, that is all she needed to know, even if she was curious as to why Waverly would be blaming Wynonna for anything. She had thought Wynonna was the one upset with Waverly and not the other way around but it seemed things were more complicated than that.

“Well, I guess you still can’t quite speak, can you?” Waverly questioned and just Nicole shook her head and shrugged. It was one of those things she had no control over, she thought. “Ok, then I’m gonna go take a shower.” Waverly informed her with a sympathetic smile. “There’s fresh coffee in the pot and warm french toast in the oven. See you in a bit.” The small brunette stood up and squeezed Nicole’s shoulder in understanding as she passed by and left the kitchen while Nicole just sat there and smiled like an idiot. Today was looking like it was going to be a good one.

Nicole stood up and busied herself with getting her things together for breakfast and as she sat back down to eat, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and noticed she had missed a text from Wynonna. She still had not taken her phone off silent mode from the previous night and her friend probably messaged her while she was talking to Waverly to also update her on their making up.

Wynonna: Call me when Waverly is not around.

Nicole read the message and frowned. Why did Wynonna need to talk to her away from Waverly? The younger Earp had already told her they had patched things up so she did not understand the need for secrecy. She typed a quick response and dug into her breakfast.

Nicole: Waverly is in the shower now but she already told me you guys are good. I hope it was not a secret. ;) Also, I still have no voice. Can we text instead?

After less than a minute Nicole saw she had a reply.  
Wynonna: Fine.

Nicole could see the three dots showing Wynonna was still typing and that went on for a few minutes. She didn’t know Wynonna to ever have this much to tell her but she guessed whatever it was, she wanted to send it all at once in one big message, and not in several quick ones like she usually did. By the time Nicole was done with her food, and was savoring the last bit of her coffee she heard the familiar tone of a new text.

Wynonna: Ok, prepare to be fucking uncomfortable because I sure am. Anyway, here it goes. I know I kinda said that I love you last time we talked, and we have been pretty comfortable with each other and we have fun together and all of that but you know I meant it like a sister, right? You are my best buddy and you know I don’t do all this sentimental crap but if I have been leading you on, I’m really sorry. It was not on purpose. I’m just not always the sharpest tool in the shed… I know you like the ladies and that is totally cool, and hell, I am hot! So can’t blame you for being into me either but I just don’t feel that way about you. And I feel super extra shitty for telling you this on a text but you asked for it! And I didn’t want to wait till quarantine is over in case you up and die one me or whatever. Ok, it’s official, I suck at this, but please be my friend still! You are the only one I’ve got.

Nicole choked on her coffee half way through the text and after she composed herself and reread the whole thing about five times she still couldn’t really believe what she was reading. Was she still asleep? Was this some twisted nightmare? In the end she came up with a much more reasonable explanation and typed a quick reply.

Nicole: Is this some sick joke? What the hell are you on, Wynonna? I know you have a habit of drinking before noon but it’s barely 9am! 

Seconds later she got a reply.

Wynonna: It’s not a joke! I’m trying to be mature here. And yes, I might have spiked my coffee but I needed a courage boost. And hell, maybe you need the same! You can be honest with me, Haught. I KNOW.

Seeing that her friend was being serious about this made Nicole even more confused. Her brain felt like it was short circuiting so she went into cop mode and decided she needed more information to assess the situation. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her cool while she typed a reply.

Nicole: From what I could gather in your first text, you seem to think I might have romantic feelings towards you. I can assure you, however, that it is not the case. Just think about it, Wynonna. Have I ever behaved in any way around you that would make you think that was true? Have I ever done anything or said anything that made you decide my feelings for you were more than friendship?

She immediately got a reply.

Wynonna: No… not that I’ve noticed. But again, not the sharpest tool in the shed over here.

Seeing that, Nicole couldn’t type her next question fast enough.

Nicole: If you didn’t think so, who put this idea in your head?

Nicole closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she sent the question. She had a pretty good idea who could have done it but she was hoping against hope it would not be the case. She opened her eyes again as soon as the notification sound rang and saw that her fears had been confirmed.

Wynonna: Waverly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!


	7. Things aren't always what they seem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls finally have an honest conversation!

“Waverly.” Nicole read the text out loud without even realizing, too busy trying to stop her heart from breaking.

“Yes?” Waverly replied from the door of the kitchen, pulling Nicole’s attention from her phone to the girl in front of her. “I see your voice is sounding a little better today. I’m sure you will be speaking normally again in no time.” Waverly walked over and sat on the chair across from Nicole with a big smile on her face. Nicole, however, just stared at the younger girl in disbelief.

Nicole was beyond furious. How could Waverly have done what she’d done and still behave like nothing happened? How could she betray Nicole like that and have the nerve to sit there and smile? 

Waverly must have noticed the look Nicole was giving her because quickly her smile turned into a frown. 

“Are you ok?” The brunette asked with clear concern in her voice.

“Why?” Was all Nicole could say back to her. The question that was burning in her mind. Why had Waverly tried to ruin her relationship with Wynonna? Why jeopardize the only meaningful connection Nicole had in this old fashioned town? Was she so jealous that Wynonna had forgiven her first, that she had to try to create a rift between then? Nicole couldn’t think of any good explanation that would allow her to forgive the younger Earp so she decided to stop trying to come up with scenarios in her head, and just wait and see what Waverly would say.

“I… I don’t know what you mean.” Waverly answered uncomfortably, her eyes moving from Nicole’s face to the phone still tight in the redhead’s hand.

“You are a terrible liar, Waverly Earp.” Nicole spat at the brunette, with fire burning in her eyes. “Did you think she wouldn’t tell me? Either you like it or not, she is still my best friend.” Nicole’s voice was rough and she could feel the familiar itch and burning on her throat but she didn’t really care right now. They needed to have this conversation and if Nicole lost all the progress on getting her voice back due to this, so be it. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be in the mood for speaking afterwards anyway.

“What? No! I didn’t… It’s not like that. I was just trying to protect you.” Waverly tried to explain but Nicole cut her off before she could continue.

“Protect me? PROTECT ME?” Nicole started raising her voice, but in her current condition that just sent her into her first coughing fit in days. 

Waverly tried to reach out to her for comfort but the redhead immediately stood and went searching into her cupboards. Finding what she was looking for, the new bottle of whiskey Nedley had dropped off a couple days prior, Nicole opened it and took a long sip, straight from the bottle, and turned back to face Waverly.

“I don’t know what your endgame is here, Waverly. I don’t know if you are jealous or if you just don’t really like me, but either way, trying to ruin things for me with the only real friend I managed to make in this town is far from protecting me.” Nicole’s voice was now even rougher than before, but at least the burn of the whiskey had helped with the cough and dulled the pain that had started on her throat. “Especially when you need to make up some story about me being in love with her.” Nicole saw Waverly’s eyes go wide at that and chuckled humorlessly.

“It might be hard for your small town brain to comprehend but just because I like women, it doesn’t mean I’m anything like those boy-men you like to date. I am perfectly capable of having a platonic relationship with a pretty girl without secretly hoping to get in her pants.” Nicole took another sip of the whiskey and sighed. Maybe she was being too hard on Waverly. She hadn’t really given the younger Earp the chance to explain herself and she could see how hurt she looked. But Nicole couldn’t help herself. She had been hurt too many times like this and now she had to let it all out.

“You have no idea, not a fucking clue, how hard it is living in a small town like this when you don’t fit into their perfect little mold of expectations. You don’t know what it feels like when people look at you in disgust, or when mothers cross the street with their kids so they can stay as far away from you as possible. You don’t know, but your sister does. Wynonna gets it. She has it even worse than me because not everybody knows about me, but everyone sure knows about her.” Nicole took another sip of the whiskey and rejoiced in the burning feeling. She knew she should slow down but the rational part of her brain did not seem to be functioning anymore, letting all her emotions take control of her actions.

“Ever since I came out, I promised myself I would never hide who I am anymore. I would live my truth out and proudly, but man, that is not always easy. I lost some friends and I made new ones, better ones, but it’s still hard seeing the people that you once trusted and loved turn your back on you because of who you love, as if it made you a different person, as if I was now a monster. And in time I started to get a better feeling of people, being able to tell if I could trust someone or not. It worked out pretty well, up until now.” Nicole had been pacing around the small kitchen during her monologue but then she stopped, once again facing Waverly.

“I trusted you, Waverly.” She continued much more quietly. Hurt shining in her eyes. But Waverly wasn’t looking at her anymore. She was staring firmly at her hands on her lap. “God, I was so stupid! I promised myself I wouldn’t…” she trailed off, catching herself right before she admitted what was really bothering her, falling for a straight girl. 

“But you don’t get it. You are purgatory’s model citizen. Everybody likes you.” Nicole finished with a defeated sigh, turning her back to the younger girl and taking another sip of the bottle still in her hand.   
“If only that was true.” Waverly whispered, probably mostly to herself, but Nicole heard it and turned around to face the small brunette. Waverly was now looking directly at her and Nicole could see the tears shining in her eyes. 

“You were wrong, you know? I am an amazing liar.” Waverly continued with a small shake of her head. “It is amazing the extent a person will go to to feel loved and accepted. When your mother leaves you when you are just a baby, your father doesn’t even acknowledge your existence, and your eldest sister hates you with a passion, you just crave to be loved. Or even just plain liked.” Waverly gave Nicole a sad smile as tears rolled down her face and just like that Nicole could feel all the anger and frustration she was feeling start to fade away, and be replaced by the need to comfort the girl in front of her.

“Wynonna loves me, I know that. She was the only one that did when I was a kid but then she also left, first to Juvie and then of her own accord. And I just needed to feel like I was worth it, that I wasn’t another Earp freak, that was just plain normal nice Waverly. So I would paint a constant smile on my face and do what was expected of me, to be liked and accepted, and I pretend to just be one of them, because I had no one else and I just wanted to fit in.” At that Waverly stood up and walked over to Nicole. She took the bottle from the redhead’s hands and took a big swig of her own. 

“My whole life, I just pretended to be someone I am not. I have lied to myself and to everybody else about what I wanted and who I wanted.” Waverly was standing so close to Nicole now, that Nicole could feel the heat radiating from her body and her words were not exactly computing in Nicole’s brain. “I couldn’t let myself feel that way, I couldn’t let myself be that person. I was not brave like you or Wynonna. I needed to be liked. But now Wynonna is back and you are… I just want to be happy.” Tears were flowing freely down her face now and Nicole couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled the smaller girl into her arms and held her close as she cried on her shoulder. After a short while, Waverly pulled back just enough to look Nicole deep in her eyes.

“Please believe me, Nicole, I would never ever do anything intentionally to hurt you or your relationship with Wynonna. After what you said the other day, I thought… And today, when Wynonna and I were talking and she was being so stubborn and clueless about my feelings, it just slipped out. I was just trying to make her aware of how she might be leading you on, I never intended to cause any harm to your friendship.” Waverly tear-stained eyes were pleading for Nicole to understand and if Nicole had any hard feelings left against the younger Earp, that was enough to melt it all away.

Nicole nodded as reply to the unspoken request for forgiveness and hugged the girl again. She knew why she had gotten so emotional and completely overreacted to the situation and none of that was Waverly’s fault. 

“I’m sorry I blew up on you.” Nicole whispered in the girl’s ear. She knew she should step away but this felt like heaven and she couldn’t deny herself the comfort. “I just had a lot of disappointments in my life and when something like this happens, my brain goes directly to the worst case scenario.”

“Don’t apologise.” Waverly replied, also in no hurry to let Nicole go. “I shouldn’t have said anything to Wynonna. I was frustrated and…” Waverly took a deep breath and continued. “You were actually partially right, I was jealous, just not in the way you thought.” And similarly to when they were talking in bed, Waverly buried her face deeper into Nicole’s shoulder at the confession.

“Wait, what?” Nicole now was the one moving back to see the girl’s face, while still keeping her arms around the small frame. 

“Who is it, Nicole? If not Wynonna, who is this woman that holds your heart?” Waverly asked, staring deeply into Nicole’s eyes. 

As if a trigger had been pulled, all the pieces started to fall into place. All the smiles and blushes, all the small touches and shivers, all the looks and comments that Nicole could not place before, they all made sense now. But still, Nicole could not believe it. She searched Waverly’s eyes for an answer but all she could see was hope and maybe something else, something more.

“Waverly, I… What about all the guys? All those dates?” Nicole wanted to be hopeful, she wanted it to be true but she needed to be sure before she served her heart on a platter.

“They were a distraction. They were my way to try to push away the feelings I started having for someone I knew this little town would not approve. And to be fair, I like guys too, so I thought, maybe if I go out with enough of them, I will meet the one that will make me feel the same way I feel about…” Waverly stopped herself and took a deep breath. “It did not work. And then faith got me stuck here with you and made me realize, I don’t want to find anyone else. I don’t need to find anyone else because the person I have feelings for is already pretty damn perfect.” Waverly paused again, and Nicole could see the smaller girl searching her eyes for something before she continued, and Nicole hoped she could see how Nicole felt through her eyes because Nicole could not move, or talk or even breath at that moment. She just needed to hear Waverly say it.

“So if… if you feel the same, Nicole. I don’t care what this town thinks, I don’t care what anybody thinks.” Waverly moved her hands that had been resting on Nicole’s back to cup her face, slowly stroking her right thumb on the redhead’s cheek. “I don’t want to fake happiness anymore. I want to actually feel it.”

Nicole could feel Waverly gently tugging her head down towards her, her eyes switching from Nicole’s eyes to her lips and then back again to her eyes, as a silent request. In reply, Nicole closed her eyes and let herself go, and in less than a second she was reeling from the feeling of Waverly’s soft lips against her own. But as quickly as it started, it was over and she opened her eyes to Waverly looking at her expectantly. 

Nicole opened her mouth to speak but her brain was still trying to catch up with all the information and feelings of the last hour or so, so after a few seconds of opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water she finally managed one word.

“Wow.” Nicole said, dumbly, earning herself a giggle from the younger girl. And from that point on Nicole vowed to make her laugh more often, as it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. 

“Are you gonna say anything else?” Waverly teased, stepping away and crossing her arms in fake annoyance, after Nicole had not spoken for several moments, still caught in the feeling of the girl’s lips and the sweet sound of her laugh.

“I’m sorry. I know you are new to this whole girl kissing thing but you can’t kiss a girl that has been pining over you for months and expect her brain not to short-circuit for a while.” Nicole teased her back, voice hoarse but now sporting a huge smile on her face. She pulled Waverly back onto her, uncrossing her arms and placing the girl’s hands around her neck, bringing their faces so close together that their noses were almost touching.

“I cannot tell you that I feel the same way as you do because I cannot pretend to know how you feel, but what I can tell you is that I am crazy about you. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since the moment we met, all those months back, try as I might. And for as long as you want me, I will be by your side.” Nicole confided, sincerely. “I know it’s scary, but if you let me, we will do this together.”

“There is nothing I want more.” Waverly replied, care and affection shining through her eyes.

“Ok, then.” Nicole agreed, a small mischievous smirk on her face. “My voice is still not that great though and I talked a lot today, so can we maybe get back to the talking later and focus on the kissing for now?”

“That sounds like a great plan.” Agreed Waverly, eyes half closed in expectation.

Nicole lost no time closing the small gap in between their lips and she sighed a content sigh once they reached their sweet destination. And although her mind was lost at that moment in all things Waverly, one non-related thought did come through. Maybe getting sick wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

THE END!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone that stuck around through my delays in updating! 
> 
> We have reached the end of our story and I hope you enjoyed the read.
> 
> Let me know what you think. :)


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